FireIce Used by Oregon Department of Forestry for 2015 Wildland Fire Season

Posted 1/6/2016 by GelTech Solutions, Inc.

JUPITER, FL--(January 6, 2016) - GelTech Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: GLTC) announced today that the Oregon Department of Forestry has now successfully integrated FireIce High Visibility Orange - Fugitive (HVO-F), the signature product of its Wildland Fire Division, into its air tanker program this season, utilizing the gel retardant in nearly 300 air tanker missions across Oregon. FireIce earned the praise of Oregon firefighters, pilots and tanker base managers for its superior performance, cost effectiveness, fast response time and ease of use.

Agency feedback described FireIce as highly effective across Oregon’s diverse geographies and fuel types, and was credited with helping firefighters contain a number of high-threat fires, saving taxpayer and forest landowner dollars and preventing devastating losses of homes and natural resources. It was used on fires managed by local, state and federal incident command teams, and was dispatched for initial attack, large fires and structure protection.

Neal Laugle, State Aviation Manager for the Oregon Department of Forestry, commented on the use of FireIce for this fire season:

“In 2013, Oregon Department of Forestry entered into contracts for Single Engine Airtankers (SEATS) in Eastern Oregon. Due to the success of the SEATS, Oregon Department of Forestry added an additional three SEATS for a total of five SEATS for 2015. As we expanded the fleet of SEATS, we needed to look for alternatives to traditional retardant in order to maximize the effectiveness of the SEATS and not be tied to established tanker bases.

“FireIce quickly rose to the top as an alternative to retardant; due to similar properties to retardant, company support, and ease of setup and mixing. GelTech’s assistance and knowledge of SEAT operations and willingness to work with contracted vendors provided the needed support for ODF to establish one SEAT base and four reload bases for the 2015 fire season which resulted in over 205,000 gallons of FireIce being applied throughout the state of Oregon in various fuel types.

“Oregon Department of Forestry found FireIce to be very effective through the direct application of the product to the flame front during Initial Attack through the use of the SEATS on various fuel types located throughout Oregon. The fuel types included heavy slash, young fir stands, Juniper/Grass and open pine stands.

“Oregon Department of Forestry looks forward to working with GelTech in 2016 and the continued evaluation of FireIce across the state as more opportunities present themselves.”

“We are extremely pleased to have had a very successful first season working with the Oregon Department of Forestry, and we want to thank them, their talented teams, and their partner agencies who were essential to the program’s early success” stated Matt Struzziero, GelTech’s director of sales and operations. “GelTech’s commitment to the wildland fire community is to provide both a superior retardant and extensive field support, ensuring that we can provide the brave men and women in the field with the resources they need.”

About FireIce

FireIce is an advanced, non-toxic, non-corrosive polymer that when hydrated produces a water-based fire retardant and suppressant. The eco-friendly properties of FireIce are especially important in sensitive and protected ecosystems, including that of the Sage Grouse. FireIce weighs significantly less than other commonly used chemicals, which enhances the safety of pilots and their aircraft. It is also packaged as a one-part orange colorant, providing excellent visibility for both pilots in the air and firefighters on the ground. As a result of its demonstrated superior suppression performance, and with its versatility as a retardant to create a fire break and protect property, FireIce has quickly become the fire chemical of choice in many regions of the country.

For more information on FireIce Wildland Products, please visit: www.fireice.com

About Oregon Department of Forestry

As Oregon’s largest fire department, ODF's Fire Protection program protects 16 million acres of forest, a $60 billion asset. These lands consist of privately owned forests as well as some public lands, including state-owned forests and, by contract, U.S. Bureau of Land Management forests in western Oregon. ODF is also part of an extensive fire protection network that includes landowner resources, contract crews, aircraft and inmate crews, with agreements among public agencies across Oregon, the U.S. and British Columbia.

ODF's firefighting policy is straightforward: Put out fires quickly at the smallest possible size. Most of the lands protected by the agency are working forests that produce revenue and support jobs. It is crucial to prevent fire damage to the timber resource that is an essential element of Oregon’s economy. This aggressive approach to firefighting also safeguards ecosystem values such as fish and wildlife habitats.

Oregon is also a member of the Northwest Forest Fire Protection Compact, and provides mutual assistance and resource sharing to member agencies as well as federal agencies. Compact member agencies include: Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Washington and Yukon.

For more information on the Oregon Department of Forestry, please visit: www.oregon.gov/ODF/Fire

About GelTech Solutions, Inc.

GelTech Solutions is a leading provider of innovative, environmentally friendly and cost-effective products that help government agencies, industry, agriculture and the public achieve goals such as water conservation and protecting lives, homes and property from fires. GelTech’s products include FireIce, an extremely effective and versatile product used both as a suppressant to extinguish fires and a fire retardant to protect assets and property; Soil2O Dust Control and Soil Cap, products that reduce airborne particulate matter with minimal environmental impact; and GT-W14, an advanced absorbency technology to control fluid spills of all sizes, turning liquids into solid waste for easier and safer disposal.

For more information on GelTech, please visit www.geltechsolutions.com

If you choose HTML you will get a rich, graphical version of the newsletter. However, the newsletter might not appear correctly depending on your e-mail client. If you choose text you will get a plain text e-mail but it will appear correctly in every e-mail
client.*